Video: The damsel in distress's modern, gruesome update

Just how often do triple-A games kill off female characters for the sake of the story? The second entry in Anita Sarkessian's Tropes vs. Women in Video Games series explores how modern iterations of the "damsels in distress" cliche are increasingly violent.

Following on the first installment of the video series, in which Sarkeesian traced the origins of the "damsels in distress" trope, this video explores several further evolutions of the common narrative cliche. These include the "damsel in the refrigerator," in which women characters are killed off to provide character development for male protagonists.

A word of warning: the video does contain plenty of plot spoilers, but moreover it also depicts some pretty graphic imagery. Sarkeesian encourages her viewers to exercise discretion.

If a written transcript is more your style, or if you want to look up the full list of games featured in the video, head on over to Feminist Frequency.